Minimal wage in EU

Figures published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities concerning the national legislation setting statutory minimum wages by 20 Member States of the EU in January 2007.

They varied widely, from €92 per month in Bulgaria to €1 570 per month in Luxembourg . When taking into account differences in purchasing power (PPS), then Luxembourg (1 503 PPS per month) has the highest and Romania (204 PPS) the lowest one.

Based on the level of the minimum wage in euro, Member States fell into three groups - minimum wages below €300 per month in January 2007: Bulgaria (€92 per month), Romania (€114), Latvia (€172), Lithuania (€174), Slovakia (€217), Estonia (€230), Poland (€246),Hungary (€258) and the Czech Republic (€288).

The group, with minimum wages between €400 and €700 per month is the following:

The third group where minimum wages were over €1 200 per month consists of: France (€1 254), Belgium (€1 259), the Netherlands (€1 301), the United Kingdom (€1 361), Ireland (€1 403) and Luxembourg (€1 570)

For comparison, the minimum wage in the USA was €676 per month in January 2007.

In 2005, minimum wages in Member States of the EU represented a third of the average monthly gross earnings in industry and services in Estonia , Romania , Latvia , Poland and Slovakia and a half in Ireland , Luxembourg , Malta and Bulgaria. In the USA the minimum wage represented 32% of the average monthly gross earnings.